Girish Bharadwaj (76), who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2017, breathed his last in Sullia on Tuesday following a brief illness. He is survived by two sons and a daughter. Popularly known as ‘Bridge Man’ of India, he had constructed nearly 140 suspension foot bridges of varying spans and dimensions across rivers in several states in the country.Born on May 12, 1950, Bharadwaj received his Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) degree from the University of Mysore in 1973.Though he wanted to work in a company or join government service after his graduation, his father asked him to use his knowledge for the benefit of farmers.Following this, he started an agro service centre in 1973 with his friend. In 1975, he established his own ‘Rational Engineering Industries’ in Sullia taluk of Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district. Now it is known as ‘Aya-shilpa’.Though he began with repairing irrigation pump sets and gobar gas plants, he was pulled into the construction of suspension foot bridges to help the people living on the opposite banks of the river in his native Aramboor village of Sullia taluk. Built in 1989, it was a test of his innovative engineering skills.He built nearly 140 such bridges after that. Every bridge was constructed by public demand to solve the non-connectivity between villages. Most of such places were beyond civilian contact and unreachable through signals. There were dangers of nature, by animals and even by naxals. He succeeded in overcoming the hazards and won the hearts of people.The 2017 Padma Shri citation said Bharadwaj’s ‘love for labour and also for labourers’ has given a neat finishing to every bridge with long durability. His policy of win-win game has brought smile on his face and also on the faces of team of workers and the beneficiaries of the bridges at end of each work.The success of Bharadwaj lies in his simplicity and practical equality with workers that was evident as he sat, ate and slept in the tent camps for months while the construction work was going on, it said.Published on July 7, 2026